One of the greatest pitchers in baseball history has returned to the old ballgame, as Roger Clemens re-joined his Houston Astros teammates on June 22. It's the 23rd Major League season for "The Rocket" and his return opened the door for McFarlane Toys to create a new Sports Picks figure. Although Clemens has appeared in Sports Picks lineups recently (as an Astro in MLB 10 and at the 2004 MLB FanFest in Houston, in 2003 as a Toronto Blue Jays surprise figure in MLB 6, and as a Boston Red Sox surprise figure in MLB 3) they've all been repaints of his original pose (as a New York Yankee in MLB 2).

We had originally scheduled our new-sculpt Clemens figure as part of this spring's MLB 15 lineup, but since Clemens didn't sign with any team in the off-season (opting to pitch for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic and work out privately) we didn't own the rights to use his likeness, since unsigned free agents are technically not part of the Major League Baseball Players' Association. The sculpted figure sat for a few months, and finally received the "green light" once Roger made his season debut on June 22.